Ascent of Mount Mitchell on 2011-02-05

Ascent Trip Report

On a cold and misty morning I left Charlotte and headed for the hills. I was expecting a lot of snow since I had nearly got stuck in Dallas due to a major snowstorm. However, amazingly there was hardly any snow below 1500m altitude. My original plan was to hike from Black Mountain campground but I got on to the Blue Ridge Parkway by mistake and found myself nearly at the summit road. Well I thought I would just hike the road instead but even more amazingly it was ploughed and open. From just before the summit I emerged from the mist into sunshine, a magical temperature inversion with a sea of cloud below and just a few summits poking out of the top. I hiked the short path in the snow to the top and watched as the mist slowly evaporated giving goog views into the valley. I resolved to hike Roan High Knob later that day since I had taken the easy way to the top of Mitchell.